Mario Andretti claimed that Sergio Perez and Valtteri Bottas were carrying a little bit of rust in early F1 2026, having made their return to the grid with Cadillac.<\/p>\n
However, Perez has been satisfied with his own level of performance in F1 2026, and believes it only took him a few days to get back on the pace. Valtteri Bottas felt that it took until Round 2 in China for him to feel like he \u201cnever was away\u201d.<\/p>\n
Sergio Perez and Valtteri Bottas respond to Mario Andretti rust claim<\/p>\n
Want more PlanetF1.com coverage? Add us as a preferred source on Google to your favourites list<\/a> for news you can trust.<\/p>\n While Cadillac<\/a> finds itself at the back of the F1 2026 grid with Aston Martin, it has been a respectable start to F1 life for the American squad.<\/p>\n Getting both cars to the chequered flag at the Chinese and Japanese GPs is an achievement in its own right.<\/p>\n Cadillac went for experience with its first driver pairing of Valtteri Bottas and Sergio Perez. Both drivers have been part of multiple Constructors\u2019 title successes at Mercedes and Red Bull respectively.<\/p>\n Following the Chinese GP, Mario Andretti, the 1978 World Champion and Cadillac F1 board member, suggested that Bottas and Perez were \u201cboth just a little bit rusty<\/a>\u201d after a year off the grid.<\/p>\n Ahead of the Japanese GP, Andretti\u2019s comments were put to Perez.<\/p>\n He does not believe there had been rustiness to his driving.<\/p>\n \u201cTo be honest, I think we\u2019ve been performing on a very high level,\u201d Perez said.<\/p>\n \u201cEspecially, I was very happy with my weekend in Melbourne. My first qualifying, I was quite happy with it. In the race, we had very different scenarios. We had a lot of damage. So it hasn\u2019t been really straightforward.<\/p>\n \u201cShanghai wasn\u2019t a straightforward weekend. I had a lot of damage in the race.<\/p>\n \u201cSo I haven\u2019t had a complete weekend, let\u2019s say.<\/p>\n \u201cBut I think in terms of my performance, I\u2019m fairly happy with it. Coming back and straight away, I was in the pace within a couple of days. I\u2019m in a good place in regards to driving.\u201d<\/p>\n Bottas entertained the idea of needing some time to get fully back up to speed.<\/p>\n But, he reached that point in China.<\/p>\n More on Cadillac from PlanetF1.com<\/p>\n Cadillac\u2019s steady F1 start shows promise as Perez targets summer breakthrough<\/a><\/p>\n Revealed: Four teams which need this F1 2026 break<\/a><\/p>\n Asked if he feels satisfied with his own performances, or if that is difficult to judge when with a brand new team, Bottas replied: \u201cI mean, it is sometimes quite difficult to get the proper read on it, and feel, especially if you have issues with a car, or reliability, if you miss sessions.<\/p>\n \u201cBut I have to say, Melbourne, it felt like kind of getting back to it, for sure. Not at like 100 per cent peak performance.<\/p>\n \u201cBut in China, I felt really good. Both qualifying and the race. With a damaged car, again, difficult to gauge, but I felt like I never was away in China, so that was good.\u201d<\/p>\n Cadillac sits P10 in the early F1 2026 Constructors\u2019 standings, ahead of Aston Martin by virtue of Bottas\u2019 P13 in China.<\/p>\n Want to be the first to know exclusive information from the F1 paddock? Join our broadcast channel on WhatsApp<\/a> to get the scoop on the latest developments from our team of accredited journalists.<\/p>\n You can also subscribe to the PlanetF1 YouTube channel<\/a> for exclusive features, hear from our paddock journalists with stories from the heart of Formula 1 and much more!<\/p>\n